In this guide
Before you start.
- Cancel before the renewal date. Amazon states that if you cancel your membership before the renewal date, you will not be charged for the next subscription period, and that it is authorised to collect the then applicable membership fees using any payment method it has on record, without notice to you unless the law requires it.
- Finish or note down what you are reading. Amazon states that when your membership is cancelled, the titles you have selected from the program will be removed from your account, devices and applications, so a borrowed book in progress disappears rather than staying on the device.
- Separate what you own from what you borrowed. Books purchased from the Kindle Store are yours and are not part of the Kindle Unlimited catalogue, so they stay in your library.
- Know which Amazon service you are actually paying for, because three get confused. Kindle Unlimited is a paid subscription with its own charge. Prime Reading is included with a Prime membership and has nothing separate to cancel. Audible is a different subscription again, with its own credits and its own cancellation.
- Do not expect money back. Amazon states membership fees are non-refundable except as expressly set out in its terms. The exception it names is where Amazon itself terminates a membership, in which case it describes a prorated refund based on the days remaining, and no refund at all where the termination was for policy violations or fraud.
- If you are on a free trial, act inside it. Amazon states that at the end of your free trial you are automatically converted to a monthly paid subscription plan, and that trial members may at any time choose not to continue to paid membership at the end of the trial period.
- Consider pausing instead. Amazon states you can pause a monthly subscription for a period of 1 month rather than cancelling, that the pause becomes effective at the end of the billing cycle, and that you cannot pause while on a free trial or promotional period.
- Check whether Amazon or Google Play billed you. Amazon publishes separate cancellation instructions for signing up through Amazon and for signing up through Google Play Billing. Apple is not a route here: the Kindle app does not sell subscriptions as in-app purchases.
- A prepaid membership is different. Amazon states you will not receive a partial refund for unused months on a prepaid gift or bundle Kindle Unlimited membership.
How to find all your subscriptions How to cancel a membership
FOLLOW THE RIGHT BILLING ROUTE
Cancel Kindle Unlimited, step by step.
Cancel Kindle+ in your Amazon account
This is the route Amazon's own terms describe, and the only self-service one. It is easiest in a browser rather than on a Kindle device.
- Go to Cancel Kindle+ and sign into your Amazon account.
- Select Cancel membership.
- Work through the prompts to a confirmation rather than stopping at an offer to pause or continue.
- Check the page afterwards: it should show the membership ending on a date rather than renewing.
Amazon states your membership remains active until the next billing date, and that after the billing date passes you lose access to content you have checked out. Cancelling before the renewal date means you are not charged for the next subscription period.
Cancel through Amazon Customer Service
Amazon names this as an alternative in its own terms, which makes it the route when the page will not complete or you cannot reach the account.
- Open Amazon's customer service and start a chat or request a call.
- Ask explicitly for the Kindle+ membership, formerly Kindle Unlimited, to be cancelled, naming it rather than saying Kindle or Prime, which are different things.
- Give the email address on the account and the date of the charge you are trying to stop.
- Ask for the end date and for confirmation by email.
- Check Kindle+ Central afterwards to confirm no renewal is scheduled.
Cancel on Android
Amazon publishes a separate set of steps for members who signed up through Google Play Billing, because Amazon cannot end that subscription itself.
- Open the Google Play Store app on your Android device, using the Google Account that signed up.
- Go to Payments & Subscriptions.
- Select Subscriptions.
- Select the Kindle+ or Kindle Unlimited subscription and cancel it there, completing the confirmation.
Amazon's terms state that if you sign up through a third party, you may need to contact that third party to cancel or to receive any refund under their policies. Apple is not one of these routes: the Kindle app does not sell subscriptions as in-app purchases.
Pause instead of cancelling
Amazon offers a genuine pause on monthly memberships, which keeps the account without the next charge.
- Open the Kindle+ membership page in your Amazon account.
- Choose to pause the monthly subscription rather than cancel it: Amazon states you can pause for a period of 1 month.
- Note that Amazon states the pause becomes effective at the end of the billing cycle rather than immediately.
- Check whether you are eligible: Amazon states you cannot pause while on a free trial or a promotional period.
Stop a free trial before it converts
A trial that runs out becomes a paid membership, so this is a deadline rather than a cancellation.
- Open Kindle+ Central while the trial is still running.
- Choose not to continue to paid membership at the end of the trial period, which Amazon states trial members may do at any time.
- Note the trial end date, because access normally continues to it rather than stopping when you opt out.
- Return any borrowed titles you want to finish first, since they are removed when the membership ends.
What happens next?
- Amazon states that when your membership is cancelled, the titles you have selected from the program will be removed from your account, devices and applications. Downloading a borrowed book first does not keep it.
- Notes and highlights you made in a borrowed title are generally retained by Amazon against your account, so a later reborrow can find them, but the book itself goes.
- Books you purchased from the Kindle Store are unaffected and stay in your library, because they were never part of Kindle Unlimited.
- Amazon states membership fees are non-refundable except as expressly set out in its terms, and specifically that if you cancel you will not receive a refund of membership fees already paid, while keeping access until the end of your subscription period.
- A prepaid gift or bundle membership gets nothing back either: Amazon states you will not receive a partial refund for unused months on one.
- Cancelling Kindle Unlimited does not touch Amazon Prime, Prime Reading or Audible, which are separate subscriptions with separate charges.
Pausing or freezing Kindle Unlimited.
Can I pause Kindle Unlimited instead of cancelling?
Amazon states you can pause a monthly subscription for a period of 1 month instead of cancelling, and that the pause becomes effective at the end of the billing cycle. It also states you cannot pause while on a free trial or a promotional period.
WHEN IT DOES NOT WORK
If you get stuck.
My borrowed books disappeared after I cancelled
That is Amazon's documented behaviour rather than a fault. It states that when your membership is cancelled, the titles you selected from the program are removed from your account, devices and applications. There is no way to keep them, and having downloaded them for offline reading makes no difference. Finish or return them before cancelling, and buy outright anything you want permanently.
I cancelled Kindle Unlimited but Amazon still charges me
Check what the charge actually is. Prime Reading comes with Amazon Prime rather than being a separate subscription, so a Prime membership charge continues regardless. Audible is another separate subscription. Compare the amount and description on your statement against the Kindle Unlimited price, and check whether a second Amazon account holds the membership.
I was charged right after my free trial
A trial converts unless you opt out. Amazon states trial members may choose not to continue to paid membership at the end of the trial period, through Kindle+ Central, and that it is authorised to collect the membership fee without notice to you unless the law requires it. Once the charge exists, Amazon states fees are non-refundable except as its terms expressly provide.
I cannot find Kindle Unlimited in my Apple subscriptions
It will never be there. The Kindle app does not sell subscriptions as in-app purchases, so Apple does not bill Kindle Unlimited and no Apple subscription list will show it. Google Play is different: Amazon publishes separate cancellation steps for members who signed up through Google Play Billing, so check Payments & Subscriptions in the Play Store app if Amazon's own page shows no membership.
The membership page will not load or I cannot sign in
The Kindle Unlimited page requires an Amazon sign-in, so a session problem looks like a missing membership. Use the email address on the payment receipt to identify the right Amazon account. If you cannot reach the account at all, Amazon names Customer Service as an alternative cancellation route in its own terms, which works without the page.
Still not cancelled?Common reasons a subscription will not cancel How to cancel an app subscription
GOOD TO KNOW
Questions, answered.
How do I cancel Kindle Unlimited?
Kindle Unlimited is now called Kindle+. If you signed up through Amazon, go to Cancel Kindle+, sign in and select Cancel membership. Amazon states the membership remains active until the next billing date. If you signed up through Google Play Billing, cancel in the Play Store app under Payments & Subscriptions, then Subscriptions.
Is Kindle+ the same as Kindle Unlimited?
Yes. Amazon now uses the name Kindle+ for the membership that was called Kindle Unlimited, and its cancellation help page and terms of use, at the same addresses as before, are published under the new name. Cancelling Kindle+ ends the Kindle Unlimited membership, and the old Kindle Unlimited central address now leads to the same Kindle+ page.
Do I keep my Kindle Unlimited books after cancelling?
No. Amazon states that when your membership is cancelled, the titles you have selected from the program are removed from your account, devices and applications. Books you purchased from the Kindle Store are separate and stay in your library.
Can I get a refund on Kindle Unlimited?
Amazon states membership fees are non-refundable except as expressly set out in its terms. Where Amazon itself terminates a membership it describes a prorated refund based on the days remaining, with no refund where the termination was for policy violations or fraud.
Is Kindle Unlimited the same as Prime Reading?
No. Kindle Unlimited is a separate paid subscription with its own charge and its own catalogue. Prime Reading is included with an Amazon Prime membership, so there is nothing separate to cancel: ending it would mean ending Prime. Audible is a third, separate subscription, and although Kindle Unlimited includes Audible narration on a designated list of titles, it is not an Audible membership and cancelling one does not cancel the other.
Provider resources
- Amazon: cancel your Kindle+ subscription (formerly Kindle Unlimited)
- Amazon: Kindle+ terms of use
- Amazon: learn about Kindle+
- Kindle+ Central
- Google Play: cancel subscriptions
Instructions reviewed .
Subex is independent of Kindle Unlimited. Availability and cancellation terms can vary by plan, billing provider and country.
